A team of biologists working at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, a research museum in the Netherlands, has found evidence of caddisfly larvae using microplastics to build their casings as far back as the 1970s.

The caddisfly is a moth-like insect found in most countries around the world. The insect makes its home near lakes and streams, where it deposits its eggs in huge masses of jelly. The larvae hatch a few days later and soon thereafter begin using nearby material to encase their bodies to protect against predators.

In this new study, the researchers in the Netherlands found that starting more than 50 years ago, the larvae began including microplastics in their casings.